Yeah add me to the chorus saying that approaching this Hitman as a purely stealth game is kinda missing the point to a degree. You'll still get some mileage out of the games playing it this way, but it'll probably feel a little flat when you consider the hijinx people generally get up to with the current iteration of this franchise.
Immersive sim is a word used to describe them a lot. A good way I like to think of it is, imagine Vinny playing an open world game. He roleplays his character, goofs around with citizens that only semi engage with them. Hitman is that in a game. Your meant to get in costume and have a little zaney fun, follow people who have changing and dynamic dialogue chains, use goofy melee weapons and cause a stir. Yes sure there is lots of serious stuff, but the tools to treat it like a goofy roleplaying experience are diverse enough in the current Hitman games to such a degree that it is that which causes people to replay levels hundreds of times. It's less about how sneaky or good you can be at something for a lot and more, how silly or different is this thing going to look. Or where is this chain of events going to lead and what kind of ridiculous kill or moment am I going to be able to get out of this.
The AI is also in my opinion the best in games right now, with so many modern games AI systems being underwhelming retreads of Skyrim era video gaming. Seriously I can't say how bummed this last generation of gaming AI was for me from an AAA and open world perspective. Hitmans levels and nuanced AI systems literally blow even Cyberpunk the modern new big next gen hit out of the water, and it's kind of maddening. But I digress; the point I was making is that there is a dense nature to the way the AI and map structure works that leads to a lot of runs turning into just poking and prodding to see what you can/can't get away with or do. It's also why to a good chunk of the audience the story is kind of the last thing we are coming to the game for, despite it actually being pretty good for many folks. The super sneaky super stealthy badass run is always their in most levels, but I think to most it's just one of the many ways to do it as opposed to being the bulk of the game.
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